U.S. Bancorp 401(k) match: 4% max
U.S. Bank 401(k) Savings Plan · USB · CIK 36104
Maximum employer match, as a share of pay
4%
U.S. Bancorp matches 100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 4% of pay.
From the Form 11-K filed June 22, 2026 ↗, covering the plan year ended December 31, 2025. Page data last updated July 28, 2026, when the Form 5500 bulk data was last refreshed. Why filings lag
On this page: what the employer actually paid in · the formula, word for word · what it used to be · when the money becomes yours · who can join · what the plan reports to the DOL · how it compares · what to do next
What U.S. Bancorp puts in, and what the plan costs
What U.S. Bancorp put into the plan, per active participant
$3,763
U.S. Bancorp put $3,763 into this plan for each of its 67,658 active participants in plan year 2024. This is the whole employer side of the plan: matching money, profit sharing, non-elective and safe-harbor contributions, and reallocated forfeitures. The Form 5500 does not separate them, so this is what the employer put in and not the match.
U.S. Bancorp put in less per active participant than 69% of plans with 5,000+ participants at banks and lenders. The middle plan in that group of 66 reported $4,881. Banks and lenders comes from business code 522110, which U.S. Bancorp entered on its own Form 5500. Sponsors pick that code themselves, so a code that does not describe what the employer does ranks the plan against the wrong companies.
What this figure cannot separate: how much U.S. Bancorp pays, and how much it puts in
This is dollars, not a rate. A Form 5500 carries no payroll, so the figure reflects both how much the employer puts in and how much the employer pays: two plans running the same formula report different amounts when one pays better. Crossing the peer group with industry holds most of that difference still, and none of it disappears.
This is one plan year, not an average. A true-up, a plan merger or a one-off contribution moves a single year on its own.
Source: DOL Form 5500 for the plan year ended December 31, 2024, EIN 410255900, plan 004 · DOL EFAST2 ↗
The $3,763 above is the Form 5500 figure for plan year 2024, and it counts every employer dollar on one line. U.S. Bancorp also files a Form 11-K, which states the match formula for plan year 2025: the card below reads $1,980 a year at a $49,500 salary. That second figure is what the formula pays one worker on that salary, and not an amount either filing reports. The two figures cover different plan years and measure different things, so neither one is the other one corrected.
What U.S. Bancorp puts in
$1,980
a year, at a $49,500 salary.
The match paragraph, word for word
“The Company makes a matching contribution equal to 100 percent of each participant’s contribution up to 4 percent of their annual eligible compensation, as defined in the Plan document. A participant becomes eligible for an employer matching contribution on the first day of the month following completion of one full year of service. In addition, the eligible participant must be employed on the last business day in December to receive the match for that plan year. If the participant retires after age 55 with at least 10 years of service since their most recent date of hire or if they leave because of disability or death, the participant will receive the match for that plan year. The employer matching contribution is deposited in the Plan annually and is initially invested in eligible participants’ accounts based on their future contribution investment election.”
What you contribute to collect all of it
Contribute at least 4% of your pay to collect the full match.
That is $1,980 a year at a $49,500 salary, and it scales with your own.
Vesting score
100 out of 100
How fast the employer’s money becomes yours. Higher than 48% of the 253 schedules we have scored.
It measures vesting speed and nothing else. It says nothing about the size of the match, what the plan charges, or the funds inside it.
Share of the employer's money that is the worker's at hire and at each of the first 6 anniversaries: 100%, 100%, 100%, 100%, 100%, 100%, 100%. The score is the average of those 7 readings.
Vesting, word for word
“Participants may invest their account balance in one or more of a variety of investment funds and are immediately 100 percent vested in their entire account balance.”
A worker hired today collects no match for 1 year. This is a filed term, and it does not move the score above.
Eligibility, word for word
“Employees are eligible to participate in the Plan on their hire date so long as they are a regular, permanent, non-temporary employee, meeting specific and recognized eligibility requirements. Employees become eligible for the Company matching contribution, when meeting specific service requirements.”
The wait before the match starts and the year-end true-up appear above when the filing states them. Neither is part of the score, and a filing that is silent on one of them is not a plan without it.
What the plan costs, against plans of its size
84th percentile
$103.70 per participant in plan-paid administrative cost, more expensive than 84% of plans with 5,000+ participants.
What is U.S. Bancorp's 401(k) match formula?
U.S. Bancorp's 401(k) employer match tops out at 4% of pay. The match is deposited once a year. One rate up to one limit is the commonest of the four shapes a match formula takes.
| Match formula | 100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 4% of pay |
|---|---|
| Maximum employer match | 4% of compensation |
| Deposited | Once a year |
| Paid in company stock | No, paid in cash or per your investment elections |
| Conditions | Participant must be employed on the last business day in December to receive the match for that plan year (waived if the participant retires after age 55 with at least 10 years of service since their most recent date of hire, or leaves because of disability or death) |
| Current formula effective | January 1, 2025 |
At a $45,000 salary, contributing 4% ($1,800) earns the full employer match of $1,800 for the year.
What the filing says, word for word
“The Company makes a matching contribution equal to 100 percent of each participant’s contribution up to 4 percent of their annual eligible compensation, as defined in the Plan document. A participant becomes eligible for an employer matching contribution on the first day of the month following completion of one full year of service. In addition, the eligible participant must be employed on the last business day in December to receive the match for that plan year. If the participant retires after age 55 with at least 10 years of service since their most recent date of hire or if they leave because of disability or death, the participant will receive the match for that plan year. The employer matching contribution is deposited in the Plan annually and is initially invested in eligible participants’ accounts based on their future contribution investment election.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 22, 2026, SEC EDGAR, corroborated by the filing's inline-XBRL facts · SEC ↗
What did U.S. Bancorp's 401(k) match used to be?
U.S. Bancorp changed its 401(k) match on January 1, 2025. The formula in force now is 100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 4% of pay.
| Since January 1, 2025 | 100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 4% of pay |
|---|---|
| Before | Prior formula not stated; the filing notes that effective January 1, 2025, following changes to the Company's matching contribution formula, the Plan began operating as a non-safe harbor plan |
We keep a dated page for it: U.S. Bancorp changed its 401(k) match formula, effective January 1, 2025.
What is U.S. Bancorp's 401(k) vesting schedule?
U.S. Bancorp vests the employer match immediately: 100% is yours as soon as it is paid in. Nothing is forfeited when you leave, which is not true of the two schedules that vest over time.
| Employer match vesting | Immediate: employer match is 100% vested when contributed |
|---|---|
| Your own contributions | Immediate: always 100% yours |
Vesting, word for word
“Participants may invest their account balance in one or more of a variety of investment funds and are immediately 100 percent vested in their entire account balance.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 22, 2026, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
Who can join U.S. Bancorp's 401(k), and is enrollment automatic?
U.S. Bancorp enrolls new hires automatically at 2% of pay.
| Plan entry | Eligible to participate on hire date, so long as they are a regular, permanent, non-temporary employee meeting specific and recognized eligibility requirements |
|---|---|
| Match eligibility | First day of the month following completion of one full year of service |
| Excluded groups | Temporary and non-regular employees (participation requires being a regular, permanent, non-temporary employee) |
| Automatic enrollment | Yes: default deferral 2% of pay |
Eligibility, word for word
“Employees are eligible to participate in the Plan on their hire date so long as they are a regular, permanent, non-temporary employee, meeting specific and recognized eligibility requirements. Employees become eligible for the Company matching contribution, when meeting specific service requirements.”
Automatic enrollment, word for word
“Eligible employees are automatically enrolled in the Plan with a before-tax salary deferral of 2 percent of eligible compensation unless the employee elects otherwise.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 22, 2026, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
What does the U.S. Bancorp plan report on Form 5500?
The U.S. Bancorp plan reported $11.4B in assets and 94,695 participants for plan year 2024.
| Total plan assets | $11,442,089,862 |
|---|---|
| Participants | 94,695 |
| Recordkeeper | Alight |
| Plan-paid admin cost per participant | $103.70 |
How that cost compares
This plan pays $103.70 per participant. The median across plans at banks and lenders is $152.83, from the 2,143 of 2,264 whose Form 5500 yields a per-participant cost.
The plan reports Alight as its recordkeeper, one of 46 plans it runs in the data we publish. Of those, the 46 with a computable fee have a median plan-paid cost of $87.90 per participant.
U.S. Bank 401(k) Savings Plan on its Form 5500 filing: fees, providers and financials
How does U.S. Bancorp's 401(k) match compare?
U.S. Bancorp's maximum 401(k) match of 4% of pay compares with a median of 4.5% across the 181 companies in our data with a computable formula.
Employers worth reading next
Of the six employers below, three file at banks and lenders, two report the same recordkeeper and one vests on the same schedule.
Maximum match 4% of pay. Also at banks and lenders.
Maximum match 5% of pay. Also at banks and lenders.
Maximum match 4% of pay. Also at banks and lenders.
Maximum match 4% of pay. Same recordkeeper, Alight.
Maximum match 5% of pay. Same recordkeeper, Alight.
Maximum match 6% of pay. Vests immediately too, like U.S. Bancorp.
What can you do next?
Check your own balance and contribution rate at Alight ↗, the recordkeeper this plan reports.
- Read the Form 11-K on SEC EDGAR ↗
Form 11-K filed June 22, 2026, SEC EDGAR. Every match fact on this page comes from it.
- Changed jobs? Find an old 401(k) ↗
The Department of Labor's Retirement Savings Lost & Found, a free government database.
- This year's IRS contribution limits ↗
The official deferral and catch-up limits every formula operates under.
- Download this data (CSV)
Formula, vesting and source references for this company, one file.
Questions this filing answers
What is U.S. Bancorp's 401(k) match?
U.S. Bancorp matches 100% of employee contributions up to 4% of eligible pay (plan year ended December 31, 2025).
When does the U.S. Bancorp 401(k) match vest?
Immediate: employer match is 100% vested when contributed.
Does U.S. Bancorp's 401(k) plan have automatic enrollment?
Yes: default deferral 2% of pay.
Did U.S. Bancorp change its 401(k) match?
Yes. Prior formula not stated; the filing notes that effective January 1, 2025, following changes to the Company's matching contribution formula, the Plan began operating as a non-safe harbor plan The current terms took effect January 1, 2025.
Cite: 401(k) Monitor, “U.S. Bancorp 401(k) plan facts”, from SEC Form 11-K accession 0000036104-26-000032, plan year ended 2025-12-31.